Criminal Law & Process – Page 13 – Marquette University Law School Faculty Blog

Marsy’s Law in Wisconsin

Post author:K.C. Parker
Post published:January 23, 2018
Post category:Constitutional Law Criminal Law & Process Public Student Contributor

Have you ever heard something that, almost immediately after hearing it, bounced your thoughts from the possible benefits to the seriously questionable outcomes that might follow, and left you swinging back and forth between the two? This is exactly what happened to me just recently after hearing about Marsy’s Law coming to Wisconsin. As it stands, I can get behind the general idea of the law, but I do have some doubts—problems, even—with the way the law is being pushed forward.

“Marsy’s Law” is the idea that crime victims, and the families of crime victims (who become victims by association) should have equal rights to those who are accused of victimizing the family. According to the web site for Marsy’s Law for All, the law is named for Marsalee (Marsy) Nicholas, a “beautiful, vibrant University of California Santa Barbara student, who was stalked and killed by her ex-boyfriend in 1983.” (Quote from Marsy’s Law for All) One week after Marsy’s murder, some of her family members entered a grocery store and were confronted by the man who was accused of murdering Marsy. Marsy’s alleged murderer had been let out on bail and the family had not known about it.

Marsy’s Law for All argues that the United States Constitution and every state constitution have a detailed set of rights for people who are accused of crimes, but the United States Constitution and 15 state constitutions do not have a list of rights for victims of crime. As I am writing this, the web site for Marsy’s Law argues that the United States Constitution has 20 individual rights for those accused of a crime, but none for the victims of crime. States, on the other hand, have been making some progress. California, Illinois, North Dakota, South Dakota, Montana, and Ohio have passed Marsy’s Law, with efforts to adopt the law currently underway in Kentucky, Maine, North Carolina, Georgia, Nevada, Idaho, Oklahoma, and here in Wisconsin.

New Cases on the Constitutionality of Long Sentences for Juveniles: The Graham Saga Continues

Post author:Michael M. O'Hear
Post published:September 5, 2017
Post category:Constitutional Interpretation Constitutional Law Criminal Law & Process Federal Criminal Law & Process Federal Sentencing Federalism Public U.S. Supreme Court

In Graham v. Florida, 560 U.S. 48 (2010), the U.S. Supreme Court barred the sentence of life without the possibility of parole (LWOP) for crimes committed by anyone under eighteen years of age. Grounded in the Cruel and Unusual Punishments Clause of the Eighth Amendment, the Court’s holding recognized only one exception: juvenile LWOP might be permissible in cases involving homicide.

Despite its seemingly straightforward character, the Graham holding has spawned considerable litigation in the lower courts over its scope and application. Two interesting appellate decisions from last month highlight some of the difficulties.

In the first, U.S. v. Mathurin, the Eleventh Circuit had to consider whether a 685-month prison term should be treated as the functional equivalent of an LWOP sentence for Eighth Amendment purposes.

After Return from Prison, Friends Can Be Key to Success or Failure

Post author:Michael M. O'Hear
Post published:September 3, 2017
Post category:Criminal Law & Process Prisoner Rights Public

New research highlights the importance of friends in determining whether returning prisoners will commit new crimes. A considerable body of prior research has demonstrated the importance of family relationships to the returning prisoner, but a new study John Boman and Thomas Mowen suggests that peer relationships may exert an even greater influence over success or failure.

Boman and Mowen collected data on a sample of 625 serious and violent male offenders, including their self-reported substance abuse and new criminal activity over a fifteen-month period after release from prison. The data also included the offenders’ assessment of their family support and the criminal histories of their closest friends.

After controlling for a number of variables, Boman and Mowen identified several factors that proved to be statistically significant predictors of post-release recidivism.